It’s time to bring the Fight for $15 across the finish line | Opinion

Updated Feb 22, 2019; Posted Feb 12, 2019

We can no longer wait for Washington to act. Congress hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage in a decade—it’s stuck at just $7.25. State legislatures can and should ensure working people can earn a living wage.

Poverty is the moral and economic issue of our generation, and raising wages is one crucial way to address the crisis. The national Fight for $15 campaign has spread across the nation and secured higher wages in more than 60 states, cities, and counties—providing a raise for 22 million working Americans. This is money that is being immediately reinvested into our communities. When working-class people get a raise, they use that money towards home ownership, quality health care, and patronizing local businesses.

While our districts are unique, the pain of poverty hits us all. Philadelphia has a staggering 26 percent poverty rate and neighborhoods in our districts reach as high as 61 percent—even though a majority of residents do have some level of employment. In Maryland, even in our greatest hospitals and educational institutions (which are subsidized by taxpayers) too many of our family, friends and neighbors earn far less than a living wage.

Across the nation, our economy is upside down and we have to turn it right side up. As state legislators from Maryland and Pennsylvania, we are each working to raise the minimum wage in our states to $15 an hour.

We can no longer wait for Washington to act. Congress hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage in a decade—it’s stuck at just $7.25. State legislatures can and should ensure working people can earn a living wage.

The minimum wage in Pennsylvania is just $7.25, while Maryland’s is $10.10. With these hourly wages, a full-time worker earns just $15,080 or $21,000 a year— not nearly enough to provide for a family. Food, rent, health care costs, higher education, and transportation—the costs have all gone up, yet working people are expected to get by with the same. We are fighting for a $15 minimum wage because we believe every American deserves a fighting chance at a good life.

We’re fighting for $15 because we know how hard Americans are working to provide for their family. Our opponents and wealthy special interests blame hard times of working families on poor families, Black and brown people, and new immigrants. But we know that they want to keep wages low to continue to line their pockets. It’s time to stand up to them and stand up for each other.

We’re standing up to those corporate lobbyists because we’ve seen the crushing impact poverty has on families. Our constituents are mothers who can’t afford the costs of childcare despite working 40 hours a week, and people of color who have worked their entire lives but never earned enough to save for a decent retirement. These aren’t people, as our opponents would suggest, that have little to offer to the workforce. These are the men and women performing jobs that serve as the foundation of our economy.

We’re standing up to them because we know we can succeed.

No matter our zip code, economic background or the color of our skin, we all want similar things: a healthy family, a decent job, and a good education for our kids. Imagine an America where everyone—whether white, Black, brown, Native or Asian—who puts in 40 hours a week can afford a home, healthy food, and decent health care without work multiple jobs. That shouldn’t be a fantasy—that should be our reality.

It’s time to bring the Fight for $15 across the finish line in Maryland and Pennsylvania and other states across the nation. As state legislators, it’s up to us to make sure that we write the rules so that corporations don’t get away with holding down wages and benefits for workers while CEOs and stockholders get rich.

This week we’re joining progressive state legislators across the country who are working to support working families with policies to increase wages, lower the cost of health care, invest in public education, and more. Together, we are fighting to change the rules so that every American who works for a living can earn a living.

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State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is from North Philadelphia and represents the 181st District in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. State Sen. Cory V. McCray is from Northeast Baltimore and represents the 45th district in the Maryland General Assembly. Both are part the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), a national resource and strategy center that supports state legislators in advancing and defending progressive policies across the country.

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